Best yet for Rosie Ross walkers in Aldridge
Sep 4 2008 By Gurdip Thandi
ORGANISERS of a walk and festival in memory of stabbed teenager Rosie Ross hailed it as the most successful yet.
The annual Rosie’s Walk and Festival in Aldridge in July attracted around 2,000 people, the highest in its seven-year history, and raised £13,000.
The event is the biggest in the calendar for Rosie’s Helping Hands, which was set up by the parents of the Aldridge schoolgirl after her death in May 2001.
Mum Karen said: “We managed to get a dry day for Rosie’s Walk which helped draw around 2,000 people to the event – our highest attendance yet.
“We were delighted with how the day went.
“To date, we have received more than £12,000 in donations and sponsor money, with another £1,000 to be added through Gift Aid contributions.
“If anyone has outstanding sponsor money or a pledge, we would be really grateful if they ould send it to us as soon as possible.”
This year’s event took a tropical island theme which saw steel bands, dancers, singers and actors join walkers at Aldridge Airfield.
The next event for the charity will be a Skittles and Games night, which is being organised with Brownhills Community Colts FC at the Lazy Hill pub, in Walsall Wood Road, Aldidge, at 7.30pm on September 20.
Entry costs £5 per person in teams of six. For further details visit the pub or ring 01922 456398.
Rosie’s Helping Hands was set up by Karen and husband Sean Ross and has since raised more than £200,000 for good causes.
Rosie, aged 16, was stabbed to death in a random attack in Birmingham’s Centenary Square as she sunbathed with friends.
Paranoid schizophrenic Inderjit Kainth, of Uplands Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, was ordered to be detained indefinitely in a secure mental health unit by Birmingham Crown Court after pleading guilty to Rosie’s manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
